"THE SECRETARY OF WAR DESIRES TO EXPRESS HIS DEEP REGRET THAT YOUR SON TECHNICAL SERGEANT JOSEPH he HAS BEEN REPORTED MISSING IN ACTION SINCE 20 DECEMBER IN LUXEMBORG IF FURTHER DETAILS OR OTHER INFORMATION IS RECEIVED YOU WILL BE PROMPTLY NOTIFIED"
DUNLOP ACTING THE ADJUTANT GENERAL

T/SGT Joseph he was a Ranger who served with the 28th and 106th Infantry Divisions and taken prisoner on this date in 1944 while leading a patrol. He was liberated by the British at the end of the war.

I have just finished reading Bastogne the First Eight Days by S.L.A. Marshall. I went back and looked at the lines we had on the 15th and the deepest penetration of the Germans. People don't realize it was not all in Belgium. By my reading it would appear he was with the 28th when that happened.

Imagine coming home and finding this stuck in the door.
It happened all the time, I've talked with plenty of people over the years who found out their loved one was killed or MIA/POW through a telegram sitting on the doorstep...

My wife's uncle was a Private in the 977th Field Artillery Battalion, Battery A. He was on board LST 282 waiting to land on the beaches of Southern France as part of Operation Dragoon when the ship was hit by a radio-controlled bomb. 21 men were killed and 71 wounded. Henry was among the missing and his body was never recovered. None of his family knew anything except Henry was missing. His mother always kept thinking he was still alive somewhere until the day she died. 60 years later, we finally found the story of LST 282. With help from the American Battle Monuments Commission, we were able to learn that his name is inscribed on the Tablets Of The Missing of the Rhone American Cemetery and Memorial in Draguignan, France. The Monuments Commission sent us a photo of the section of the Tablets with Henry's name. This was an interesting search, and we were finally able to tell his brother, my wife's father, exactly what happend to Henry.

I have all the cards and letters that Henry sent home from the day he left for boot camp until he was killed. I have been slowly scanning them into my computer so I can give copies to all the family.